Tiger Woods gives rare merger update and outlines PGA Tour plans and Negotiations With Saudi Arabian PIF

Tiger Woods is back in action at this week’s Genesis Invitational, and ahead of his return the 15-time major champion discussed the ongoing saga surrounding the PGA Tour and LIV Golf

Tiger Woods has revealed the PGA Tour are looking at possible avenues to allow LIV Golf players to return to the American-based circuit in the future.

Those who opted to join LIV saw their memberships with the PGA Tour suspended, a stance that banned the likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and more recently Jon Rahm. Last June though it appeared Mickelson and co would be offered the chance to return, after the PGA Tour announced it intended to finalise an agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).

Even though they missed their original deadline of December 31 and there have been increasing doubts about the proposed merger in recent weeks, the Tour has emphasized that they are still in talks with PIF.

This is despite the fact that they formed a £2.4 billion partnership with Sports Strategic Group (SSG) just last month. Woods is currently a Player Director on the PGA Tour’s Policy Board and was questioned about potential options for LIV members to return to the PGA Tour.

He mentioned that they are exploring various approaches and pathways for a comeback, while speaking in Los Angeles as a 15-time major champion.

“What that looks like, what the impact is for the players who have stayed and who have not left and how we make our product better going forward, there is no answer to that right now. We’re looking at a very different — varying degrees of ideas and what that looks like in the short term, we don’t know. We don’t even know in the longer term what that looks like.

Trust me, there’s daily, weekly emails and talks about this and what this looks like for our tour going forward.” Woods’ comments comes two weeks after his close friend and business partner, Rory McIlroy claimed the rebel players should be offered a pathway back to the Tour without punishment.

McIlroy – who had previously been one of LIV’s biggest critics – said at Pebble Beach: “Guys made choices to go and play LIV, guys made choices to stay here. If people still have eligibility on this tour and they want to come back and play or you want to try and do something, let them come back. I think it’s hard to punish people. I don’t think there should be a punishment.

“Clearly, my opinion on this matter has shifted as I now recognize the current state of golf and acknowledge that a weakened PGA Tour or any other tour would not be beneficial for either party involved,” he stated. “It would be far more advantageous for us to unite and progress together for the betterment of the sport.”

However, McIlroy’s claims are not supported by everyone.

Following the incident, several renowned players from the PGA Tour expressed their opposition to allowing LIV stars a free return, including Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas, who argued that there should be consequences accompanying their comeback. .